Getting started
You had a job interview for a holiday job at a café in Brighton. Your friend asks you what the manager wanted to know. The manager asked:
"How old are you?" "Have you worked in a café before?" "Can you start in July?"
You report:
She asked me how old I was. She asked if I had worked in a café before. She wanted to know whether I could start in July.
Reported questions are not real questions any more. They are statements about a question. That changes the word order.
Auf Deutsch: In der indirekten Frage steht das Subjekt vor dem Verb, wie in einem Aussagesatz. Es gibt kein do / does / did und kein Fragezeichen.
Explanation
Reporting verbs for questions
The usual verbs are ask and want to know. You can also use wonder or enquire (more formal).
- She asked (me) where I lived.
- He wanted to know what time it was.
Questions with a question word
Keep the question word (who, what, where, when, why, how, how old, how much …). Then use statement word order: subject + verb.
| direct question | reported question |
|---|---|
| "Where do you live?" | She asked where I lived. |
| "What are you doing?" | He asked what I was doing. |
| "Why did she leave?" | They asked why she had left. |
| "How much does it cost?" | I asked how much it cost. |
do, does and did disappear. The tense shifts back as in reported statements.
Yes/no questions: if or whether
Questions without a question word are reported with if or whether.
| direct question | reported question |
|---|---|
| "Are you hungry?" | Mum asked if I was hungry. |
| "Have you seen my phone?" | He asked whether I had seen his phone. |
| "Do you like jazz?" | She asked if I liked jazz. |
| "Can you help me?" | He asked if I could help him. |
whether is a little more formal. Both are correct.
Punctuation
A reported question ends with a full stop, not a question mark:
- She asked where I lived.
- wrong: She asked where did I live?
Auf Deutsch: Der häufigste Fehler ist die Fragewortstellung: She asked where did I live. Richtig ist She asked where I lived. Denk an die deutsche indirekte Frage: „Sie fragte, wo ich wohne“, nicht „wo wohne ich“.
Examples
Example 1: A survey
A student from your partner school in Leeds asked your class some questions for a project:
- "How do you get to school?" → She asked how we got to school.
- "Do you wear a school uniform?" → She asked if we wore a school uniform.
- "What is your favourite subject?" → She asked what our favourite subject was.
- "Have you ever been to England?" → She wanted to know whether we had ever been to England.
Example 2: A police interview
A witness reports what a police officer asked her:
The officer asked me where I had been at 10 o'clock. He wanted to know if I had seen the driver. Then he asked what colour the car was and whether I could remember the number plate.
Notice the statement word order: where I had been, what colour the car was.
Rule
Reported questions: asked / wanted to know + question word or if / whether. Then subject + verb like a statement. No do / does / did. Backshift as usual. Full stop, no question mark.
Exercises
Grundlagen
- Report the questions. Start with She asked …. a) "Where are you from?" b) "What time is it?" c) "Do you have a pet?"
- Put the words in the correct order. a) He asked / was / where / the station b) They wanted to know / I / if / was / OK
Weiter
- Report the questions. Change tenses and pronouns. a) Mr Smith: "Why did you miss the bus?" b) Lucy: "Will you come to my party?" c) The guide: "Have you visited the castle yet?" d) My cousin: "How much did your bike cost?"
- Correct the mistakes. a) She asked me where did I buy my shoes. b) He wanted to know if was I ready? c) They asked what time does the train leave.
Knobeln
- Write five questions that a new classmate from Ireland might ask you on the first day. Then report them as if you were telling your parents in the evening.
Lösungen
- a) She asked where I was from. b) She asked what time it was. c) She asked if I had a pet.
- a) He asked where the station was. b) They wanted to know if I was OK.
- a) Mr Smith asked why I had missed the bus. b) Lucy asked if I would come to her party. c) The guide asked whether we had visited the castle yet. d) My cousin asked how much my bike had cost.
- a) She asked me where I had bought my shoes. (statement word order, no did, backshift) b) He wanted to know if I was ready. (subject before verb, full stop) c) They asked what time the train left. (no does, backshift)
- For example: "Where do you live?" → She asked where I lived. "Do you play any sports?" → She asked if I played any sports. "What is the canteen like?" → She asked what the canteen was like. "Can you show me the library?" → She asked if I could show her the library. "Who is the best teacher?" → She wanted to know who the best teacher was.